Railroad-crossing shock-absorber



R. B. HARGRAVE.

RAILROAD caossme SHOCK ABSORBER,

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9, 1920- Patehted June 15, 1920.

attorney uNiT o-sTArss PEENT OFFICE.

RussELL 1a. HARGRAVE, or PASFADENA, TEXAS.

RAILROAD-CROSSING SHOCKsABSORBER.

To all whom it may concern.

- Be it known that I, RUssELL R. H m- GRAVE, a citizen of the United States, resid ing at Pasadena, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Crossing fihock-Absorbers, of which the fol-.

expedients utilized for grading up approaches to crossings" and protecting the rails from contact with-vehicle wheels. The majority of such devices are either of such construction, such as wood," that they soon wear out; or else they are formed ofconcrete or iron whichare so rigid in construction that the jar caused by passing trains soon causes the crossing to become broken or else the necessary resiliencyof the ties is impaired. The present invention is 0 designed as to eliminate these undesirable attributes of former crossings by providing a plurality of novelly arranged springs in the crossing body for absorbing shocks, and constructing sections of the crossing body freely movable with respect to eachother to prevent disarrangement or breaking result-- ant from jolts and vibration and to effect a certain resiliency through contact of the wheels of a vehicle passing thereover.

Furthermore, the present crossing is designed so that it may be manufactured and assembled practically complete in order that it may be applied in a very short while and without serious interruption of trafiic.

For the purpose of illustrating this invention there is shown in the accompanying drawings one form thereof which is at present preferred, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement of these instrumentalities as herein shown and *described.

this invention 'appertains I there have. been many In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a railroad crossinghaving my present invention applied thereto. i

Fig. 2 is a sectional endelevation on the line 22 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow. 1

Like characters of reference indicate like or similar parts throughout the several,

views, in which: i

A designates the ties of a conventional roadbed to which are securedthe rails B. In the present instance theties A are provided with recesses in which are seated steel supporting plates 1 which extend parallel with each other and with the rails and are disposed between the rails as is clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and2. The ties are further provided with other recesses exteriorly of the rails for the reception of substantially L-shaped supporting members 2, also dis posed parallel with the rails and adjacent thereto and .exteriorly thereof, and having the short flange portions extending vertically to the ties A to lie against and contact with depending flanges 3 of the crossing Furthermore mounted upon the plates land members 2 are transverse supporting plates 1*.which vextend beneath the rails as illus trated' in Fig. 2; Secured to the supporting plates 1 are a plurality of coil, springs 5 which have their upper ends secured to a steel plate 6 which extends the entire width 1 Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 15, 1920,

Application filed Mareh'9, 1920. Serial No. 364,488. i

of the crossing and on either side to. a point adjacent the tread of the rails as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The crossingplates 4 are also spaced from the supporting plate 2 by springs 6 which are arranged in staggered relation longitudinally of the roadbed as is shown in Fig. 1. In order to prevent undue upward movement of the crossing plates 6 and 4 with respect to the supporting plates 1 and 2 a plurality of chains 7 are secured to thesupporting plates and extend at an angle thereto for engagement with the crossing plates, and also serve to prevent swaying of the crossing plates relative the supporting plates.

As clearly illustrated 1n Fig. 2 the crossing plates 4 and 6 extend slightly above the tread of the rails B so that the passage of a vehicle over the crossing will be cushioned and the wheels thereof will not come into contact with the rails. Furthermore, the edges of the crossing plate 6 are beveled as at 8 to prevent possible contact of the rolling stock therewith to disarrange the crossing or derail the train or car.

By forming the vertical flanges of the L- shaped supporting members 2 so that they lie against the depending flanges 3 of the crossing plates A earth or gravel may be banked up to lie thereagainst in order to provide a gradual approach to the present resilient crossing.

In laying the crossing the rails B are removed from the ties A and the supporting plates 1 are disposed in the position shown whereupon the transverse supporting plates 1 are secured thereon and the rails replaced. In applying the present crossing to the usual railroad the same can be disposed in position in its entirety, and in manufacturing the same it may be assembled and applied without the use of peculiar tools or accessories.

Insecuring the crossing to the ties A bolts 9 are used and are driven into the ties with the head portions the supporting plates as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing it is thought that the operation and application of the present railroad crossing will be understood but, as many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different .embodiments of this invention could be 'lhfl-Cl without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matters contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therein.

I claim:

1. A railroad crossing of thetype indicated comprising supporting members, me1nhers I carried above the supporting members constituting a crossing, means for re sillently mounting the crosslng members upon the supporting'members, and means for preventing swaying and excess movement of the crossing members.

2. A railroad crossing of the .typeindicated comprising supporting plates,'plates carried above the supporting plates constituting a crossing, springs between the supporting plates and crossing plates, and chains connecting the supporting plates with the crossing plates whereby to limit the movement of the crossing plates with respect to the supporting plates.

3. A railroad crossingof the type indicated comprising supporting plates engaging the ties, plates carried above the supporting plates constituting a crossing, springs between the supporting plates and crossing plates, chainsyconnecting the supporting plates with the crossing plates whereby to limit the movement of the crossing plates with respect to the supporting plates, and means on the supporting plates and crossing plates for preventing ingress of dirt or gravel from a bankedapproach tothe space between the plates.

4. A railroad crossing of the type indicated comprising supporting plates extending parallel with the rails, supporting plates extending transversely to the first "supporting plates and disposed with their ends beneath the rails, plates carried above and spaced from the supportin'g'plates constituting a crossing, springs between the supporting plates and crossing plates, angularly disposed chains connecting the first named supporting plates with the crossing plates whereby to limit the movement of the crossing plates with respect to the crossing plates, and coactive means on the supporting plates and crossing'plates for preventing ingress of dirt or gravel froma banked approach to the space between the plates.

In testimony whereof, I aflixmy signature hereto.

RUSSELL R. I-IARGRAVE. 

